In a rush? Route 209 coffee cafe takes on big boys using a 'local touch'

The new, peaked roof at The Coffee Rush on Business Route 209 in East Stroudsburg was constructed for aesthetic and practical purposes in an effort to enhance curbside allure.

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By CHARLES ERICKSON

poconorecord.com

By CHARLES ERICKSON

Posted Jan. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 6, 2013 at 8:36 AM

By CHARLES ERICKSON

Posted Jan. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 6, 2013 at 8:36 AM

» Social News

The new, peaked roof at The Coffee Rush on Business Route 209 in East Stroudsburg was constructed for aesthetic and practical purposes in an effort to enhance curbside allure.

The space between the existing flat roof and the new angled roof will also allow the shop's owner to do something that was previously impossible.

"I had no storage," said Todd Brown. "Everything came in and out from my vehicle, every day, whether it was cups or a lot of paper goods that we go through."

On a recent morning, a few hours after he had opened, Brown spoke during the short periods between serving customers through the drive-through window and across the inside counter.

"Business? Everybody's still struggling," he said. Economic uncertainties have made some customers cut coffee purchases from their discretionary budgets.

The Coffee Rush, first opened in 2002 on Business 209 near the Pocono Snake and Animal Farm, was designed as a double-drive-through, with windows on both sides of the building. Brown had studied and adapted similar designs in the coffee-centric Pacific Northwest. He became intrigued by the concept, and how it would allow him to escape from an office where he worked as an operations director for a computer training company.

"I had 11 locations and 750 employees," he recalled. "I decided I wanted to go out on my own. I was tired of the corporate malarkey."

Business was excellent from the opening in 2002, and Brown later opened a second location in Swiftwater.

Coffee is old beverage, but the retail coffee industry changed over the last decade. Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks opened many new locations, McDonald's and other quick-service food retailers tweaked their coffee offerings, and various convenience store chains started offering name brands. Machines that brew coffee from the Kuerig K-Cups that broke out into popularity in box stores are now found in many offices.

"It's very competitive selling coffee," Brown said.

He said the saturated market forced him to close the Swiftwater location, and after the highway in front of the building was changed from two double lanes of traffic to a pair of single lanes.

The first store was moved from Business 209 to this former gasoline station building in 2008. There is only one drive-through window, but the structure allows for a few people to sit inside and consume their beverages and food when weather allows for it.

"I have the morning group that comes in, very much like a 'Cheers' environment, because everybody knows each other," Brown said, citing the popular TV show set in a popular neighborhood bar.

The owner said that about 15 percent of sales come from customers who spend time at a table. The rest of the transactions are conducted through the drive-through window.

Brown and his three employees, including his son, put an emphasis on memorizing the drinking habits of their regular customers. As a woman in a red minivan sat and waited to enter the drive-in area from the highway, Brown began preparing her "hammerhead" — a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso.

Another customer's coffee was poured and his bagel was being cut before he had stopped his car at the window. His tab was $3.50, paid with a debit card.

"This, absolutely, is a volume business," Brown said after the man had left. He took sips of coffee from a cup. Brown enjoys the taste of the beverage and said he consumes more than a few cups every day.